Vacuum flask



March 1953 M. A. HASSl D ET AL I 2,632,576

VACUUM FLASK Filed April 15, .1951

men? 1:: l 050 In I Nook/cs 1.55m HSS/D g ms-g Attorney Patented Mar. 24, 1953 VACUUM FLASK Maurice Albert Hassid, London, and Ernest Venis, Hatch End, England, assignors to The British Vacuum Flask Company Limited, London, England, a British company Application April 13, 1951, Serial No. 220,754 In Great Britain March 21, 1950 3 Claims.

This invention relates to vacuum flasks.

Vacuum flasks as, marketed comprise the glass vacuum bottle or container and a protecting outer casing which latter may take varying forms.

Usually it is a plain cylindrical casing but sometimes the outer casing takes the form of a jug.

In any case, however, the container or bottle has to be supported and held firmly within the casing so as to be free from any tendency to rattle. The object of the present invention is to provide a convenient means by which the container or bottle can be properly supported and the outer casing effectively closed.

The primary characteristic of the invention is the formation of the outer casing of the flask with an opening at the top or neck and an opening in the bottom of suificient size to permit the inner container or bottle to be passed through it into the outer casing, the arrangement being such that the application of the closure to this bottom opening serves to hold the container or bottle firmly in position in the outer casing and in fluid tight engagement therewith.

Thus in its broadest aspect the invention consists of a vacuum flask having its inner container supported in compressive fluid tight engagement between a flange defining an opening in the upper end of the outer casing and a closure supported in fluid tight engagement on a flange defining an opening in the bottom of the outer casing.

More specifically the invention consists of a vacuum flask comprising an outer casing having flange openings in its bottom and at its top, an inner container having a flange at its top underlying the flange defining the opening at the top of the outer casing, said container flange being held in compressive engagement with the flange at the top of the outer casing by a bottom closure unit supported on a resilient sealing ring located between a peripheral flange bordering the closure unit and the flange defining the opening :in the bottom of the outer casing.

In order that the invention may be understood and carried into practice reference is made to the accompanying drawing in which Figure 1 shows, partially in section, an example of a vacuum flask assembly constructed in accordance with the invention and Figure 2 illustrates to an enlarged scale an important detail.

Referring to this drawing the numeral 1 designates the outer casing of the flask which, in this example, is shown in the form of a jug but can, of course, take other forms. Ihis outer casing in the examplfi hOWJL onsms iii a mouldin which maybe of china or any other material commonly used in the production of jugs. At the top or neck of the jug an opening defined by a flange 2 is provided and at the bottom an opening defined by a flange 3 is provided. The numeral 4 designates the inner container or bottle which is provided at its top end with a flange 5. This flange is not actually an integral part of the container but is constituted by a rubber or like resilient sealing ringwhich is supported on a shoulder l of the container and it will be seen that when in situ in the outer casing this sealing flange underlies theflange 2 of the outer casing. On the flange 3 defining the opening in the bottom of the container a rubber or like resilient sealing ring 8 is mounted and this ring 8 supports a closure unit which consists of a diaphragm 9 having an internally screw threaded opening I and a peripheral bordering flange II which rests upon the sealing ring 8 and an externally screw threaded plug element l2. Without limitation to the materials of which these elements can be made it can be said that a synthetic resin such as that known on the market under the registered trade-mark Bakelite has proved satisfactory for the diaphragm member '9 and Polythene has proved satisfactory for the plug element I2.

In the operation of the invention after the sealing ring 5 has been applied to constitute a flange for the container 4 the container is introduced into the casing I through the opening in the casing bottom. The sealing ring 8 and the diaphragm member 9 of the closure unit are then positioned and finally the plug element I2 is screwed into the central opening of the diaphragm with the result that the container sealing flange 5 on the neck of the container is forced into sealing engagement with the flange Z of the outer casing I and the diaphragm member 9 is forced downwardly on to the sealing ring 8 which spreads out into sealing condition filling the space between the inner wall of the outer casing l and the diaphragm closure unit 9 somewhat as shown in Figure 2. Thus, the container is held firmly in compressive engagement and will have no tendency to rattle and simultaneously the openings at the top and bottom of the outer casing i will be closed in fluid tight condition so that the space between the container and the casing wall can be put under vacuum in accordance with known practice which forms no part of the present invention.

The container will, of course, be closed by a suitable stopper indicated at 6.

What is claimed is:

1. A vacuum flask comprising an outer casing open at top and bottom, the said casing having a flange defining the opening at the top of said casing and a flange defining the opening at the bottom of said casing,an inner container spaced from said outer casing, a flange at the top of said inner container underlying the flange defining the top opening of said outer casing, a resilient sealing ring overlying the flange defining the top opening of said outer casing, a diaphragm formed with a screw threaded central opening and a peripheral flange, :the said peripheral flange resting on said sealing ring, and a screw threaded plug adapted to be screwed into the screw threaded opening of said diaphragm and into engagement with the inner container, the said plug operating simultaneously to force the flange of the inner container upwardly into vacuum tight engagement with the flange defining theopening at the top of the outer casingand to force the diaphragm downwardly into compressive vacuum tight engagement with the sealing ring.

2. A vacuum flask comprising anouter casing open at top andibottom, the said casing having a flange defining theopening at the top of the casing and a flange defining the opening at'the bottom of said casing, an inner container spaced from said outer casing, a shoulder atthe top of said inner container, a resilient ring resting on said shoulder and forming a resilient flange underlying the flange definingthetop opening of said outer casing, a'resilient sealing ring overlying the flange defining-the bottom opening of said outer casing, a diaphragm formed with a screw threaded central opening and a peripheral flange, the said peripheral flange resting on said sealing ring, and a screw threaded plug adapted to be screwed into the screw threaded opening of said diaphragm and into engagement with the bottom of the inner container, the said plug operating simultaneously to force the flange of the inner container upwardly into vacuum tight engagement with the flange defining the opening at the top of the outer casing and to force the diaphragm downwardly into compressive vacuum tight engagement with the sealing ring.

3. ,A vacuum ,flask as claimed in claim 2, wherein the sealing ring is in sealing engagement with the flange defining the opening at the bottom of the outer casing and in engagement with the wall of the outer casing.

MAURICE ALBERT HASSID.

VENIS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,549,269 ,Koreeet al. Aug. 11, 1925 1,549,417 Hendrichnnu, ,Aug. 11, 1925 1,639,529 Paysonetal. v t vAug. 16, 1927 1,7 ,321 Seigheim. ,May 27, 1930 2,077,216 Conn er., Apr. 13, 1937 2,349,099 Kircher ,May 16, 1944 2,405,764 Smith Aug. 13, 1946 

